Soft pads for woodworking vise

[Mark Katz]

I have a Jorgensen 7"x4"m woodworking vise on my bench (circa 1990). When I bought the vise (at The Woodworkers Store, now Rockler), I also bought a pair of soft, felt-covered, magnetic pads that cover most of the surface of the jaws.

After all these years, the pads are getting quite ragged. With Jorgensen out of business (don't actually know if they made the pads), I can't find anything similar in all my searches; all I get from my searches are pads for machinist vises or for bar clamps.

Does anyone know a source for pads like these? I know I can embed some rare earth magnets in some soft wood slabs to achieve the same effect but I have limited shop time these days and would rather have them just arrive at my front door if possible.

Thanks, Mark

[Mark Katz]

On further looking, I did find these:
https://www.amazon.com/Magnetic-Maple-Jaw-Inserts/dp/B0009H5PC2/ref=sr_1_1?s=hi&ie=UTF8&qid=1522512220&sr=8-1&keywords=wilton+63142

Not felt-covered but I suppose I could do that myself (ugh). Seems the maple faces could be almost as prone to mar the workpiece as the metal jaws.

[Mike Harkin]

If you can live with something that's not removable, glue leather pads on.

https://www.brownells.com/gunsmith-tools-supplies/general-gunsmith-tools/vises-accessories/vise-jaws/leather-vise-jaw-pads-prod6943.aspx

[glenn bradley]

I have used leather pads for many years. I now only put leather on the moving jaw. I find this adds enough extra grip to make lighter pressure adequate for most holding tasks. If you are looking for protection as well I would do both jaws.

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[Mark Katz]

That might work if I glue them on to the Wilton maple inserts referenced in my second post. On the other hand, I'm probably not going to buy something from that particular industry. Everyone, please don't go off on that tangent right here.

[Nick Decker]

I've been using these cork pads on a Sjoberg's vise for a couple years, no problems.

https://www.amazon.com/Sjobergs-SJO-33382-Elite-Cushions-Pair/dp/B00HRUD3OG/ref=sr_1_1?s=hi&ie=UTF8&qid=1522514546&sr=1-1&keywords=sjobergs+cork

I see that buying them separately is pretty pricey. You could probably just buy some cork somewhere and glue it on with whatever.

[Jamie Buxton]

Have you considered flexible magnet sheet? Y’know, like refrigerator magnets or stick-on car sign. It would stick magnetically to the jaws, and be soft on the workpiece. You cut it with scissors. It comes in various thicknesses with different magnetic strengths.

[Barry McFadden]

I have been using these for more years than I care to remember.... no idea where I got them but maybe someone will know something about them. They are magnetic with a soft plastic face...

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[Mark Katz]

NIck and Jamie - good idea on the cork and magnetic sheets - maybe laminate the cork to the magnetic sheet and cut it to size.

Barry - yes, those pads are widely available but they're meant for a machinist-type vise. Looking for something that covers the full 4"x7" area of the jaws.

So far, the hybrid of Nick and Jamie's idea looks the best, with the Wilton product along with a cork layer being second.

Thanks, everyone, for all the ideas.

[Jamie Buxton]

You can buy sheet magnet with peel and stick adhesive on the back face. But why not just use the magnet sheet alone?

[Gary Radice]

There are many options: leather, cork, cork/rubber composites, vinyl magnetic sheets.

Jameel at Benchcrafted likes and sells cork/rubber composites. You can also find the material other places online in different thicknesses. Just this last week I got some of this:

https://www.equalseal.com/product-p/cork-neoprene-061224.htm

to try for vise jaws and to add to bar and pipe/bar clamp jaws. I don't know how durable it will be but it is easy to cut with scissors and much cheaper than leather.

[Mark Gibney]

Glenn what kind of glue do you use to attach the leather?

[Bill Dufour]

Get a piece of leather and old it in half. Insert fold down, then use the vise, replace as needed. Also works with wrenches on chrome pipes.
Bill D.

[David Utterback]

Good question. Thanks

I used the 3M 77 spray adhesive to attach leather to the faces of my vice but it did not hold it firmly in place.

[Jebediah Eckert]

I tried the spray adhesive to attach leather to a wooden vise. That was a failure for me, just didn’t stay, maybe I will try contact cement next. I had sheets of cork with adhesive backing and that worked great at first. Once you start to put force on it I found it to tear. Once that happens I was left with sticky lumps of cork.

That rubber/cork composite looks like it might be worth a try. It looks similar to the stuff I got from BenchCrafted for my Moxon vise. That stuff has held up great but I can’t remember how I attached that. Maybe it had a sticky back already but I can’t remember.

[Dave Cav]

Ditto for heavy leather. I got mine from Tandy Leather, I just found a piece big enough for a couple of vise chops. I only put it on the moving jaw, rough side out. I believe I tried spray contact cement first, didn't work, reglued with regular yellow glue. I've done all 3 of my vises like this, works fine.

[Jebediah Eckert]

Regular yellow glue hmmm.........Going to try that next then. Thanks

[Ted Phillips]

Glenn what kind of glue do you use to attach the leather?

I glue leather pads to my wood vise jaws with brown hide glue. It sticks very well to both the wood and the leather. And the bonus is that you can remove it with a bit of moisture and heat - it cleans up very well. This makes replacing the pads a cinch when they get all dinged up. When applying the glue, make sure to apply to both surfaces (the wood and the leather). Since the leather is porous, the pads need to be wetted with glue before sticking them to the jaws.

Hide glue doesn't work as well adhering leather to metal.

TedP

[Mark Gibney]

Thanks Ted, hide glue sounds like the way to go, and yellow good also. The spray glue just didn't work as others have said.